Roger Scruton philosopher
A constitutional rule that, for every new law imposed on the British people,
an old law should be removed from the statute book – regardless of what the
European commission says. It is evident to every normal person, and even to
some politicians, that the hitherto friendly relation between the people and
the laws that govern them has been undermined by the mad desire to regulate
most things and to criminalise everything else. Give us a break and you will
see what the British people are still able to do.
Rory Bremner satirist
I would introduce compulsory youth community and environmental projects for
18-year-olds. A six-month programme split between community projects in the
UK and abroad – like a flood relief programme in Bangladesh – it would apply
to everyone whether from state or public school and would work like
conscription but, instead of military training, school-leavers would learn
the importance of contributing to their community.
Paul Ormerod economist
I would make more explicit the connection between tax and services received by
abolishing the PAYE system. Instead of income tax being deducted by
employers at source, I would make everyone sign a cheque to pay their tax.
While it would increase administration in the first instance, it would bring
home to people what they are paying for. When you physically hand money
over, you inevitably question whether you are receiving value for money.
This system would put political pressure on public services to ensure they
deliver efficiently and would prevent the waste of public funds.
Bob Geldof campaigner
I would get a submarine, throw a rope around the island and drag it 300 miles
south. That way we would all be living in a tropical paradise.
Frank Furedi sociologist
We should get rid of the rules that prevent teachers touching children in
school and stop parents from taking photographs at plays and sports days.
Such rules just foster an atmosphere of mistrust. We’ve lost the idea that
we are all responsible for each other’s children.
David Starkey historian
I would remove everyone earning less than £25,000 a year out of the tax
system. At the moment we have a ridiculous circular system in which people
are taxed, then given their money back in tax credits. It produces the idea
of the state as provider – for something like one-third of the population.
It imprisons people we should be liberating.
Fay Weldon novelist
We should elect our public services representatives locally. Britain is too
heavily populated to manage centrally, so things need to be micro-managed.
If the head of the police is no good at their job then you should be able to
vote for a new one. This would increase the power of the people to tackle
unsatisfactory services and would mean that jobs are done with the welfare
of the community in mind rather than central government targets. It would
certainly make councils sit up and do their jobs properly.
Alan Milburn, MP
Give people the chance to control their own budget for education, old age,
health, child-care or training. For example, parents of children with
special needs could choose to receive services as they do now or instead
they could get a budget from the government worth the annual amount. That
would allow them to personalise care according to their family
circumstances. Similarly, as the postwar baby boomer generation grows old it
seems unlikely that we will tolerate a council-decided care home in the way
that previous generations have done. We are far more likely to want to live
out the end of our lives cared for in our own homes by people we choose with
budgets we control.
Jeremy Clarkson writer and broadcaster
Get rid of the M4 bus lane. Now. And for ever.
Jilly Cooper novelist
I would make penalties for cruelty to animals far harsher. People who are
cruel to animals are simply given pathetic fines rather than being
appropriately punished.
Lord Bramall former chief of the defence staff
Parliament should have the final say on when we go to war. I really don’t
think that in this day and age you can go into a full-scale war without
getting the assent of parliament. There will be some operations that you
need to keep secret but in any of the recent big campaigns – the Falklands
war, the first Gulf war, the Iraq war – there was absolutely no reason why
you couldn’t have, if you’d wanted to, tested the will of parliament. There
was a vote on Iraq, but it was on the wrong premise. If it had been on the
right premise, they might have got a different answer.
Chris Woodhead former chief inspector of schools
I would introduce an education voucher for parents with school-age children.
The voucher would pay for a state education but could be cashed in at
independent schools as payment or part-payment. It would help to make the
rhetoric of parental choice a reality; would promote new providers of
education in to the market and at a blow, would destroy the state monopoly
which has created appallingly low standards which we see in so many schools
today.
AN Wilson writer
Instead of not being allowed to park on yellow lines, I think yellow lines
should show cars where they can park. They’re so ugly that the cars would
hide them, at least temporarily. Then we should scrap all road signs and
have them redesigned by John Ruskin so that they’re not as ugly too.
Grayson Perry potter
Ban chewing gum. It makes you look dumb and makes the street ugly.
David Goodhart, editor of Prospect magazine
I think we should have a high-speed rail link. We’re the only big country in
Europe not to have one and it’s absurd that it takes six hours to get to
Glasgow. It would take a lot of strain off the roads and would relieve
pressure on London.
AA Gill writer
Close all the shops on Sundays again. I miss Sundays where I’m not doing
anything. At the moment it’s just an extended Saturday. That sense of
quietness is lost. It’s to do with the tyranny of shopping – I get bilious
that there’s no reprieve from the screaming pressure to consume.
Professor Karol Sikora cancer specialist
Inspiring people to stay well is the key to health. Keep it simple – diet,
exercise, low alcohol intake and no smoking are the messages. We pay nearly
£2,000 a year each for our National Health Service insurance.
A no-claims discount would give the incentive for people to stay healthy. Add
a bonus for good lifestyle and attendance for appropriate screening. Get the
message over that health is an individual responsibility – it’s priceless
and the best thing we’ve got.
Michael Burleigh historian
I get so annoyed by litter. It astonishes me when you’re stuck in traffic and
see someone wind down their window and just throw rubbish out onto the road.
I would introduce larger fines, dispatch more people to clear it up and
develop educational programmes so that people learn that it is socially
unacceptable to litter.
Shaun Bailey youth worker
We should teach parenting in school. One of the reasons we have problems with
young people is that they’re not used to doing anything that doesn’t involve
some payback to themselves. They don’t have parents who’ve made sacrifices
for them and that affects how they enter parenthood.
Nicholas Serota director of the Tate
I would like to see art as another “R” in the school curriculum. Visual
education is as important as being able to read and write.
Brian Cox physicist
Britain has always been brilliant at blue skies research, driven purely by
curiosity. The invention of the electric motor was not driven by someone
looking for an alternative to horses. It was Michael Faraday messing about
in a lab with magnets and wires. If you fund scientists for pure research
you get immeasurable practical benefits for society and the economy.
Frank Field MP
I would give people control over their public funds. The spend on the average
child up to the age of 19 is now £100,000. If a mother wants to stay at home
with her children for the first couple of years instead of going to work she
should be able to draw down, say, a quarter of that, in the knowledge that
the benefits she receives later will be proportionately lower.
Andrew Mawson social entrepreneur
We need to get out of short-term politics and take the long-term view. You
have to start with one high street shop and understand its inner workings
before you build a thousand. Government seems to think you can build a
thousand schools if you have the correct policy framework, without
understanding the practical inner workings of just one.
Andrew Motion poet laureate
I would like a project called WhizzGo to take off. Instead of owning your own
car, you hire small, environmentally friendly cars. We should set a target
date within the next 10 years for all vehicles to run on something other
than petrol – something green.
Sarfraz Manzoor writer and broadcaster
It should be harder to buy alcohol and drink it in public.
